Cloaked
by NitemareFenix
Summary: A Battle Network oneshot based off the Manga. Forte.exe reflects on his existence, and who he really is. Rated K for one mention of death.


**Disclaimer: I don't own anything presented in this fic. That honour belongs to Capcom.**

**I don't think this is one of my better works, but that's probably irrelevant. I was using the NT Warrior Manga as the inspiration and source material for this.**

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The saying goes that while Power corrupts, Absolute Power corrupts Absolutely. 

I wonder if the humans who gave me life considered that fact when I came into being, and whether it haunted them in their final moments. They intended me to be the world's first solo net-navi, capable of operating without the aid of a human. They succeeded in that much. I didn't require a partner to unleash my powers and lay waste to anything that opposed me. But, part of me still longed for a companion….a friend….after all, what use are power and intelligence when you only have yourself for company?

I found that companion in the person I considered to be my father, Dr. Cossack. It was when I first met him that my sense of trust began to develop, as he didn't just see me as a piece of technology to be analysed, he saw me as someone who was still naïve to the ways of the world and needed a friend to keep me in check. That was all my life consisted of for those first few months. I was happy with the way things were, and so was Cossack.

Then the day that would forever alter me arrived.

Apparently the gutless cowards who called themselves scientists decided I was too powerful to be left alone……and they locked me up. I was angry at being confined, but Cossack stayed by me and assured me that he didn't care what I was, it was _who _I was that was important. So I stayed, kept in isolation with only the occasional conversation with Cossack to give my existence meaning. It was around then that something happened.

There had been several system malfunctions in recent weeks. The Alpha System the humans had designed had begun to develop a mind of its own, and was starting to rebel against the authority the humans had over it. The humans didn't realise this though. Their latest creation was supposed to be perfect in every way and would never rebel against its creators. So they blamed me for the problems, on the sole basis of the fact that I was the strongest Navi in the labs, and without a human partner I could act of my own free will.

They sent a team of Navis to delete me. To erase my existence even though I had committed no crime. At first I didn't retaliate. Dr. Cossack would order them to stop, because he was my friend. I trusted him, and my naivety almost cost me my life. The leader of the group sliced through the emblem on my chest, the emblem that was essentially my identity, and the only thing that had reminded me of Cossack as he'd suggested it. It was strangely fitting, like I'd just been cleansed of my one link to the person who'd betrayed me. And so I could let my power loose without fearing the repercussions. The Navis who opposed me never stood a chance.

That one act of slaughter was all it took. Humans were not worth my time. They act under pretences of friendship, but are all too quick to abandon their "friends" when things get out of hand. At least, that was the way I saw things in those early days, back when I first started wearing this cloak of mine to conceal the scar that my relations with humanity had given me. I trusted no-one except myself, and had faith in nothing except my own power. Power was everything, and only be obtaining more could I take revenge on the pathetic creatures who had wronged me.

Then I encountered Rockman and his human partner Netto Hikari. I saw them as a nuisance, but for some reason, Rockman would not succumb to me. I was confused. How could such a pitiful Navi ever stand on the same level as one as powerful as myself? He defeated me……but what followed, his explanation that he drew strength from his friendship with the human, seemed ridiculous. Net Navis are superior. How could one human make any difference? I retreated back into the Undernet to recover, and made a vow that I would become strong enough to crush Rockman and his useless ideals of friendship. But, his words awoke something I thought I'd wiped from my being. My memories of those early days with Cossack, and his speech about who I was and not what I was. It seemed ludicrous to think that I, the most powerful Navi in existence and the only one to ever best the Lord of the Undernet in combat, still longed for companionship. Emotions were a human thing that Navis had no use for, but my mind was split between who I was back then, and what I am now.

The cloak I wear serves multiple purposes now.

It doesn't just hide the scar. The ultimate proof of human betrayal. Not anymore.

It also hides my insecure side. The side of me that still longs for a friend. For a real reason to fight. It hides the scar sure enough.

But, it also hides the loneliness and the tears. Things I swore would never again bother me still do.

And, as much as I hate it, I have to accept what I really am.

A cloaked shadow of who I am.

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**And that's a wrap. Read and review folks!**


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